TITLE: Pistols, Prophecies, and... Parenthood?
AUTHOR: sassy_lion
SUMMARY: John runs into an old friend, who asks a favor that John is indebted to, the results become devastating when Aeryn shows up...
SPOILERS: Set around "Promises", but major spoilers for "Look at the Princess"
RATING: between PG-13 & NC-17. Depending on the chapter, as you can see, it is labeled R for good measure. The NC-17 is for violence, warning you here only because Fanfiction.net doesn't allow NC-17 works anymore.
PAIRING: John/Katralla, John/Aeryn
AUTHOR'S NOTES: A/U where Aeryn hasn't come back to Moya yet, but everyone else has. Takes place around the time of "Promises". No Scorpy. Non-Tormented Space.
SHOUT-OUTS: As always, pinky, for being a pain in the ass :P, holly, for whatever reason you came up with to torment my brain while you aren't here, (I still do have that incriminating pic of you during the sleep over...)
MUSIC: "Heaven" by DJ Sammy, "Somewhere Out There" by Our Lady Peace, "Sick Cycle Carousel" by Lifehouse
Pistols, Prophecies, and... Parenthood?
sassy_lion
(c) September/October 2002
Chapter 1: Princesses Really Do Need Lots of Sleep
John once again felt queasy. He had had the feeling all morning as he did daily maintenance, when he had eaten morning meal, when he had been in the cargo bay working out on the punching bag, and when he had done more work on the module he had neglected for so long aboard Elack.
It was late in the day when he and Sikozu had turned up for a double shift in Command aboard the massive Leviathan that everything had gone to hell in a handbasket. John called out to Pilot on the results of a deep-space scan that had been requested earlier in the day.
Pilot replied without hesitation, "An unidentified vessel has just entered Moya's sense horizon. It has been broadcasting a distress message. The outer plating on the vessel does not allow for a proper scan of the inside, but the markings on the outside give an indication that there are beings aboard." Pilot appeared on the clamshell as the two took their places at the consoles.
"Bring it aboard, Pilot."
"But Crichton..." Sikozu piped in, not really sure of what was going on, but not in the mood to run into more enemies besides what they already had.
"Just do it, Pilot. I got a hunch." **Not so much a hunch as a gut-wrenching feeling.**
"Yes, Commander. Releasing the docking web now. I have prepared Bay Three."
"Pip, can you get up to Command?"
"Sure, why?"
"Pilot will explain what's going on to you." John exited Command with Sikozu on his heels. He entered the bay a minute later to see the small ship set down. The door opened microts later and Crichton knew why he had felt so queasy. In front of him on the stairs to the pod stood the one sight he somehow hoped he would never see again-- Princess Katralla.
Ordering Sikozu to lower the weapon she had brought, John took in Katralla's appearance. She was a sight for sore eyes. Her usually long blonde colored hair had been jaggedly cut to just below her ears. Disheveled. The long white dress he remembered she had been wearing or the garments she had been frozen in while John had been on the Royal Planet had been traded for a pair of standard PK pants and a long dark blue shirt. John could see her stomach showing underneath.
She took the steps slowly, because of both her exhaustion and her pregnancy. Reaching the bottom she whispered, "Hello, John." And passed out in his waiting arms.
*-*-*
John carried Katralla to the apothecary where Jool was waiting with a scanner and a sleeping agent. She doesn't know that the baby was only half-Sebacean as she prepared an agent. "Jool, don't use anything on her that you couldn't use on me. I'll explain everything later."
Jool nods and prepares a pink vial John is quite familiar with. Klepin. It would keep him sleeping for around 12 arns at a time, longer for Katralla, since she had a slightly lower metabolism and not to mention the baby. He nods approvingly, sits down next the patient and strokes her dirty face, her cropped hair, her arms, her bulging belly.
"John, she will be asleep a while." Jool said softly as she touched his arm. "Go back to your quarters and rest, I will watch if she wakes up."
"No," he shakes his head in frustration, "I'll stay here as long as I need to. I want to be here when she wakes up." He stroked her face again, wondering about anything and everything that had could have possibly happened in the last two cycles.
John stayed there all night.